Mayor’s Week: 2 – 8 September 2016

Mayor’s Week: 2 – 8 September 2016

Plenty of variety this week! Unveiling statues, flag flying, commemorating a fire and a battle, attending a carnival, receiving a charity donation and planning future events.

Works of art are always a bit like marmite – loved or disliked – and our new Cornmarket statues will be no different. They certainly add interest to the area and everyone who spoke to me at the unveiling ceremony liked them. The level of detail is amazing and it is good that the people represented were chosen by local people.

King George II Unveiling

We travelled to the London last week to be received by the Lord Mayor who thanked Worcester people for £230 13s 9d given to their citizens after the Great Fire in 1666. Worcester was a much smaller place then, so it is remarkable that we were able to provide the equivalent of over £100,000 in today’s money. The fire made 65,000 people homeless, but Worcester’s generosity helped to rebuild the place. What a contrast today to visit the Lord Mayor’s magnificent Mansion House home, opposite the Bank of England.  This area now has the greatest concentration of wealth in this country.

I was proud to raise the Red Ensign over our Guildhall on Merchant Navy Day (3rdSeptember). This date also marks the start of the Second World War when thousands of merchant seamen died on ships sunk by enemy submarines. It is important to remember their sacrifice.

Later, we attended Stourport Carnival where large crowds enjoyed the floats and entertainment despite the rain. What a pity that our own carnival was cancelled.

In the evening, we processed to the Commandery and Fort Royal Hill for a service to commemorate the 365th anniversary of the Battle of Worcester.

Back in the parlour I thanked Individual Tailoring for their generous donation from a raffle for my charities. We also met the charities to plan future events, about which I’ll say more later.

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